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Avialae
Avialae ("bird wings") is a clade of flyingdinosaurs containing their only living representatives, the birds. It is usually defined as all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to modern birds (Aves) than to deinonychosaurs, though alternate definitions are occasionally used (see below). Archaeopteryx lithographica, from the late Jurassic Period Solnhofen Formation of Germany, is the earliest known avialan which may have had the capability of powered flight.1 However, several older avialans are known from the late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formationof China, dated to about 160 million years ago.23 Definition Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used a definition similar to "all theropodscloser to birds than to Deinonychus."45A nearly identical definition, "the theropod group that includes all taxa closer to Passer than to Dromaeosaurus", was used by Agnolín and Novas (2013) for their clade Averaptora.6 Additionally, beginning in the late 2000s and early 2010s, several groups of researchers began adding the genus''Troodon'' as an additional specifier in the definition of Avialae. Troodon had long been considered a close relative of the dromaeosaurids in the larger group Deinonychosauria, though some contemporary studies found it and other troodontids more closely related to modern birds, and so it has been specifically excluded from Avialae in more recent studies.7 Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics).Jacques Gauthier, who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed featheredwings used in flapping flight, and the birds that descended from them.89 Differentiation from Aves Gauthier9 (page 34) identified four conflicting ways of defining the term "Aves", which is a problem because the same biological name is being used four different ways. Gauthier proposed a solution, number 4 below, which is to reserve the term Aves only for thecrown group, the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants. He assigned other names to the other groups. # Aves can mean those advancedarchosaurs with feathers (alternatelyAvifilopluma) # Aves can mean those that fly (alternately Avialae) # Aves can mean all reptiles closer to birds than to crocodiles (alternatelyAvemetatarsalia =Pan-aves) # Aves can mean the last common ancestor of all the currently living birds and all of its descendants (a "crown group"). (alternately Neornithes) Under the fourth definition''Archaeopteryx'' is an avialan, and not a member of Aves. Gauthier's proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of paleontology and bird evolution, though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is sometimes used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers.7 Evolution See also: List of fossil bird genera |- | |- |Euavialae | rowspan="2" | |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- | |} |- |Cladogram following the results of a phylogenetic study by Wang et al., 2016.10 |} The earliest known avialan fossils come from the Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the lateJurassic period (Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago.7 The avialan species from this time period include''Anchiornis huxleyi'', Xiaotingia zhengi, and''Aurornis xui''. The well-known early avialan, Archaeopteryx, dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany. Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds, but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on the second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering.11 Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous Period.12 Many groups retainedprimitive characteristics, such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). While the earliest forms, such as Archaeopteryx and''Jeholornis'', retained the long bony tails of their ancestors,12 the tails of more advanced avialans were shortened with the advent of the pygostyle bone in the group Pygostylia. In the late Cretaceous, around 95 million years ago, the ancestor of all modern birds also evolved a better sense of smell.13 Category:Jurassic dinosaurs Category:Middle Jurassic Dinosaurs Category:Late Jurassic dinosaurs Category:Cretaceous dinosaurs Category:Middle Cretaceous Dinosaurs Category:Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs Category:Avian Dinosaurs Category:Small Carnivores Category:Small dinosaurs Category:Famous animals Category:Prehistoric Life Category:Prehistoric animals of Asia Category:Prehistoric animals of Europe Category:Extinct animals of China Category:Cretaceous extinctions Category:Cretaceous Period Category:Jurassic reptiles Category:Reptiles Category:Diapsid Reptiles Category:Early and Middle Triassic Archosaurs Category:Troodontids Category:Article stubs